April Fools
by corneroffandom
Summary: Zack's response to Dolph's tweets.


_ HeelZiggler_ _ zackryder is a great WWE superstar_

Zack Ryder's lips rise into a grin as he stares at his phone, reading the tweet that Dolph had sent out barely five minutes beforehand. It seems unlike the Show Off but he's gotten to the point where he'll take compliments wherever he can get them, quickly typing out a _thanks bro_ to Dolph. He hears a few giggles and exasperated chuckles from the various competitors in the hallway around him as he walks past, but he's learned to ignore them a long time ago, knowing that most find him a joke, especially after his humiliation at the hands of Eve and the loss of Z!TLIS.

That is, until Dolph tweets something complimentary about The Rock and it hits him. April Fools Day. All of his tweets were jokes, the opposite of what he was thinking. He swallows and stares at his phone, his eyes dulling. His coworkers' response _now_ making sense, he grimaces at his own stupidity and sets his phone down on a nearby trunk, not wanting to see it right now. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he shrugs and leaves it behind, heading outside.

After sending another false tweet out, Dolph realizes he's cutting into his own empty stomach cardio time and stuffs the phone back into his pocket, heading out to find a quiet spot in the arena to get in the zone. He's just left the main locker room when he idly spots a familiar gleam of purple and orange nearby, stopping short with a frown. Walking over to the trunk where Zack's phone sits, its case gleaming against the overhead light, he palms it and looks around for the Long Island superstar. "Since when does he leave his phone behind like this? That's... careless, even for him." He stares at the device for a moment. "_Especially_ for him," he rectifies his thought after considering how glued he usually is to his social media accounts, all of which are accessible on his phone.

It hits him halfway down the hallway, remembering the tweets he'd sent out earlier, and he frowns, steps faltering. "No way... He didn't really take me that seriously, did he?" He pulls the man's phone out once more and presses a button to light it up, barely blinking as he types in Zack's passcode, 999954. When it loads the mobile web, he shakes his head and scrolls through Zack's timeline, immediately floored. "No way," he hisses, closing his eyes as Zack's tweet to him glows off of the screen. He'd missed it in the rush of tweets from the WWE Universe filling his own timeline after he'd mocked both Cena and Rock. "Dammit, kid."

Guilt worming into his thoughts, he shakes his head and begins to look for his rival/friend, if only to give him his phone back. He doubts Zack would want to hear what he has to say regarding the tweet anyway. But the hallway is empty of broskis from Long Island and he swallows, shaking his head. "Where'd he go?" he mumbles, feeling worse and worse with each passing minute.

It's cold out for late March but he ignores that, digging his hands into his hoodie as he exits the arena and wanders around outside, wondering if maybe Zack came out here for some air... or to leave. Growing more uncertain, he looks around at the rental cars, curious about which was Zack's, or if his is even still here. He's about to turn around and go back inside when... "What are you doing out here, bro?"

Although the words seem normal, there's a sharpness behind them that causes Dolph to shudder more than the chilly wind ever could. He turns slowly and faces his frenemy, who's leaning against an abandoned trunk, frowning. "What are _you_ doing out here, Ryder?"

Zack kicks halfheartedly at a pebble before shrugging, the grin he shoots at Ziggler cold and a little bitter. "Getting some air. I don't see why it matters to you, bro."

His words are a little offputting but Ziggler ignores the tone behind them, sitting down next to Zack like they do this every day. And maybe they used to, but since Dolph had grown busier following his briefcase win, and Zack had grown less busy with the loss of Z!TLIS, he'd seen honestly very little of the man. He kicks his feet against the rough surface and thinks about how much it all sucks, looking out of the corner of his eye at Zack. "You left your phone inside, is all," he says blandly, fiddling with the device thoughtfully.

"I know." Even so, Zack takes it and stuffs it into his pocket before once more staring ahead at the blue sky. Dolph stares at the side of his face and shakes his head, unused to this side of Zack which has become more and more common in the past few months. "What are you still doing out here, bro? You've done your good deed of the day, now don't you have some interviews or something with AJ to do?" he grouses, finally growing weary of the blond's stare.

It'd been a joke, Dolph hadn't meant to honestly insult Zack, but he'd done it anyway, despite knowing how sensitive the Long Island native is considering how quickly his career freefell the last year. He stares at his face for awhile longer before shaking his head, making it to his feet to leave Zack alone. "I'm sorry," he offers before turning back towards the building. "I didn't mean anything by those tweets."

He's almost inside, when... "Hey, Bro? Thanks," Zack calls out, Dolph turning to find him waving his phone out at him, the Showoff releasing a ragged breath, understanding: It was also Zack's way of saying apology accepted. He smiles wanly at the other man and continues inside, feeling a little lighter.


End file.
